Jul 11, 2018

MONTREAL (JTA) — A Quebec court ordered a group of Hasidic Jews to leave their summer homes by the end of the month because they are too noisy and slovenly.

The Quebec Superior Court ruled that the approximately 50 Hasidim living in the town of Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, 60 miles north of Montreal, must leave by July 26 following complaints from the town that they hold rowdy gatherings till 2 a.m., treat their properties like garbage dumps, and use their residences as synagogues and religious schools, which is contrary to zoning laws.

“The buildings are not well-maintained,” Deputy Mayor Jean-Léo Legault said, and “are not supposed to be used for that purpose.”

Ste-Agathe Mayor Denis Chalifoux in interviews with the local media dismissed any notion, as a few of the Hasidim have alleged, that anti-Semitism was behind their eviction, saying that Jews and non-Jews have lived “harmoniously” in Ste-Agathe for a century and the town has a large Jewish population.